Woodward is believed to have spoken to other former United players about roles at the club, including the likes of Darren Fletcher, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra.

But none have the know-how and experience of van der Sar, who has quickly become a key player on the board of the European Club Association.

Overmars, not Van der Sar, performs the duties of director of football at Ajax (Picture: Getty)

Van der Sar will be difficult to prise away from Ajax and he is very happy in his current role in Amsterdam, while it is director of football Marc Overmars who performs the duties that Woodward expects from his appointment.

Under the pair, Ajax have turned over a profit in excess of £200million in recent seasons – selling the likes of Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong for huge fees – while also building a squad that won the Eredivisie last season and made the semi-final of the Champions League.